


Fuck The Daily News

by guardianofdragonlore



Series: A Joyful Family [4]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Crying, Dad Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Movies as comfort, Rejection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 21:48:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14246442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guardianofdragonlore/pseuds/guardianofdragonlore
Summary: Rejection emails are painful, but at least Jesse doesn't have to go at it alone.He's still a good journalist, even if the Daily News doesn't accept him.





	Fuck The Daily News

**Author's Note:**

> This is..... I'm not even going to deny projection.
> 
> That being said, the recent comic killed me, made it even easier for me to project my Entire God Damn Life onto these two.

"Jesse, I'm home," Gabe called, awkwardly shuffling into the house. His hands were full, two computer bags and a backpack of other bits and bobs his job required (fucking government). He set his load down with a sigh of relief. 50, too old to function, too young to retire.

No response. Jesse must still be at the school. One of his new friends must have dragged him to a club or hang out. Gabe wanted that for him. 

He shuffled down the hallway towards the kitchen, mind on the half empty bottle of wine tucked into a corner. 

 _Last Minute Birthday Gift From Coworker_ went brilliantly with the local news. A man could either sit like a duke and laugh at fool's or get tipsy enough to forget how messes up the world is. 

Halfway to the kitchen he passed the open doorway to the living room. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a Jesse-shaped lump under a blanket on the couch. Only the top of his head poked out from underneath.

"Jesse?" Gabe asked, pausing in the doorway. A brown hand flopped out of the blanket, waving weakly in his direction.

"Hey," Jesse greeted, face shoved into the cushion. "Today is shit.''

With that, the hand retreated back into the blanket.

Gabe frowned and went to sit on the arm closet to Jesse's head, cheap wine forgotten. Things were better the last few months. Jesse had so much going for him. Good grades, driving school, even a few parties! There were a few dips of course, but this was the first crash in ages.

"Want to play Twenty Questions?" Gabe offered weakly, unsure if Jesse wanted to talk. He put his hand on his head, fingers curling in Jesse's thick hair.

"No..." Jesse mumbled into the cushion. He reached out from under the blanket again to hand Gabe his phone. 

He took it and tapped out the pin. The screen opened to an email.

_Dear Student,_

_Thanks for applying to the Daily News Student Voices program. We got strong applications from all over the state, and it was hard deciding between applicants. Unfortunately, your application wasn't selected this year._

"Oh Jesse-"

"Keep reading, it gets even better," Jesse groaned, pushing himself up. He leaned against Gabe's shoulder. There was a tissue clenched in one of his hands.

_In many cases we didn't accept a certain application because the story pitch wasn't fleshed out. We hope you'll apply again next year, especially if you're a current sophomore or junior. Seeing someone apply again with an application that's even better is a big plus when we're judging._

_Thanks again for applying._

"Not fleshed out my ass, I wrote an essay for my pitch, sources and everything," Jesse sniffed. His voice wavered a bit, and he shoved the tissue up to his face. " _Fuck..."_

The curse was angry, but Gabe could see fresh tears welling up in Jesse's eyes. 

When Jesse first found out about Student Voices, he nearly bounced off the walls. It was a chance for high school students to write articles for a major newspaper. There were free seminars too, and a chance to tour the offices. The Daily News wasn't as big as The New York Times or BBC, but it still had a national audience. Writing for them would have given Jesse a step up in life.

Gabe set the phone down and wrapped his arms around Jesse. 

"I'm sorry Jesse, I know you poured your heart into the application," Gabe spoke softly, rubbing Jesse's back. Not only in applications either. From backpacks to walkouts, his boy covered it all with enough zeal to rival any official reporter.

"I knew it would've been fixed as hell, knew it from the start, but it stings like a bitch," Jesse grumbled, his voice stuffy, pressing himself harder against Gabe. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Jesse smothering his sniffles. Eventually they pulled away from each other. 

"You know what always makes me feel better in times like this?" Gabe asked, reaching for the DVD remote. Jesse blew his nose into the tissue, smiling at Gabe. 

"If you say  _Hello Dolly_ you'll live up to every gay stereotype on the planet," he snickered. 

"I was about to say  _Finding Nemo_ but if you insist," Gabe took a deep breath, preparing to belt out something. Before he could start Jesse screeched, dropping his tissue to swat at Gabe. 

They laughed, tipping over on the couch as they play-fought. Gabe had to cry 'uncle' to get up and set up the movie.

It wouldn't make things better. Not getting into the program hurt. But that didn't matter. He and his boy were going to watch a movie about a single fish dad, cry their eyes out, put in the sequel about the blue lesbian fish, and end the night on a high note, because fuck The Daily News' rejection.

Behind him, Jesse sighed.

"You think that fella would've been a hell of a lot more formal," he mused out loud. "Cause that sounds like something someone would post on Tumblr, not a rejection from a big program."

Gabe snorted. Jesse would go far in life, rejection emails be damned.

Really, fuck The Daily News.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah that email was pretty much copy and paste. Just changing the details so I don't tell y'all where I live.
> 
> Just keep swimming and apply next year


End file.
